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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

County Employees Charged in Theft from Poverty Program

As a result of a joint investigation by the Miami-Dade State
Attorney’s Office and the Miami-Dade County Office of the Inspector General
(OIG), two employees with Miami-Dade County’s Community Action Agency (CAA), an
agency within the County’s Community Action and Human Services Department
(CAHSD), were charged with using their positions to fraudulently obtain funds
intended to assist low-income individuals with paying their energy bills.

“Every theft by a governmental employee is a betrayal of the
public trust.It is particularly
disappointing when workers charged with helping the poor steal some of that
money for themselves,” noted State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “With
the filing of criminal charges, I’m certain that these individuals now
understand that they have committed serious offenses just to put a few extra
dollars into their pockets.”

Miami-Dade County Inspector General Mary Cagle expressed her
gratitude to those who come forward with information: “The OIG truly
appreciates concerned citizens and well-intentioned County employees alerting
us to fraudulent activities taking place in our County programs.The criminal acts committed by these County
employees deprive those who truly need the assistance of this worthwhile
program.”

A criminal investigation was initiated after the OIG
received an anonymous complaint indicating that CAA employees Iraida Macias and
Earlene Finney were circumventing the application process of the Low Income
Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to personally obtain monies originally
intended to assist low-income individuals with paying their energy bills.LIHEAP is a federally-funded program administered
locally by Miami-Dade County.Macias and
Finney, as LIHEAP eligibility interviewers whose job it was to determine if
applicants met the income level limitations necessary to receive these
financial benefits, were able to circumvent the oversight safeguards to receive
money to which they were not eligible.

Between June 10, 2010 and September 4, 2012, Iraida Macias’
FPL account was credited with approximately $4,100.78 in LIHEAP funding.
Records indicate that between 2010 and 2014, Earlene J. Finney, a supervisor
who approves LIHEAP funding applications, received approximately $6,211.70 from
the LIHEAP program.

The SAO and OIG joint investigation was also assisted by the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services OIG, who administer LIHEAP at the
Federal level.

Iraida E. Macias has been charged with:

1 count of Official Misconduct, a 3rd Degree Felony

1 count of Organized Scheme to Defraud, a 3rd Degree Felony

8 counts of Grand Theft, a 3rd Degree Felony

Earlene J. Finney has been charged with:

1 count of Official Misconduct, a 3rd Degree Felony

1 count of Criminal Use of Personal Identification
Information, a 3rd Degree Felony